Speaking of Antiquing – July 2019

In the last month, several people have come into the shop requesting an appraisal of their valuables. None of us here at Pickety Place are appraisers per se, but we do know how to find, for the most part, a current market value for items.

People will ask, “What’s this worth?” What they really want to know is its value and how much they can get for it!

Worth and value are not always the same. An item’s worth is typically what someone is willing to pay for it. An item’s value is determined by many variables including what it is, how old it is, how rare and/or how common is it?

One example is a silver serving set brought in. The family had several pieces passed down from their mother. The items were beautiful, functional and well loved. They wanted to know if they should keep or sell the items. We determined through some quick research that they were indeed not the valuable pieces of sterling silver that they wanted them to be, but good quality silver-plated items in very good condition. Though not uncommon, the value to them outweighed the market value we discovered. The worth of those pieces was more valuable as cherished memories and shared history.

Location plays a huge part in this equation as well. Items from the east coast won’t necessarily sell as well on the west coast. East coast furniture wood preferences might lean toward maple, whereas west coast might be more partial to mission oak. Population plays a large part as well. With common items you have a larger buyer market; with rarer items you may get a premium price.

Nautical items bespeak of a specific area or vocation. If you visit either coast, you will see items from ships or the sea that one from the Midwest would have no inclination for; to them it would be of no value. Vocation and hobbies will also determine what someone might be willing to buy. Only a true collector will pay a premium for a very old, authentic fireman’s hat.

Whichever age group one is from, they gravitate towards things from their youth. If one was raised watching the Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950’s they would be drawn toward the set of porcelain dwarves sooner than one raised watching the Teletubbies.

The Sesame Street generation will look for little, colored records with the story book to read along with, or a cookie monster cookie jar.

Finding the value of your items is not difficult. There are websites aplenty that will reference your item. Find like items that have sold recently to determine today’s market value. Something sold five years ago for a high price may have hit bottom, and today could hardly be given away. Markets fluctuate constantly and trends and fads determine desire.

At Pickety Place we don’t make up our prices, we compare as a Realtor does in pricing a home.